Houthis Announce Maritime Embargo Of Saudi Arabia

According to Javier Blas, energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia has been shipping roughly 4.5 million barrels of oil per day through shipping channels in the Red Sea, with“most of it” traveling through the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb.

The Houthis' announcement of an embargo against the Saudis comes as the US has continued burning through its crude inventories.

Data released by US Energy Information Administration revealed that US crude inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels over the week ending July 10, leaving stocks at their lowest level since 1983.

University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape warned that the Houthis shutting down another vital global shipping lane could be a disaster for the global economy given that it could mean a“loss of another 4 to 5 million [oil] barrels a day.”

“The Titanic is now hitting the iceberg,” Pape added,“and there are not enough lifeboats for the world economy.”

Nicholas Grossman, professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, noted that there are now multiple factors throttling global energy shipments.